Current processes for the extraction of plant ingredients are predominantly undertaken according to the cocurrent principle or countercurrent principle. For example, EP627490 describes the countercurrent extraction of inulin from chicory roots.
EP792646 relates to cosmetic or pharmaceutical compositions for the skin which can be obtained by means of countercurrent extraction from an extract of Solanum lycocarpum. 
In DE3603678, a combination of expression and extraction in a multistage process is carried out. Here, in the first stage, undried alkaloid plant pieces are expressed using a suitable press and the resulting pomace is extracted countercurrently in a two-stage process with water.
Current cocurrent and countercurrent extraction processes require relatively long periods. It was therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved, in particular time-saving, extraction process for plant ingredients.
There are other processes for extraction of plant ingredients which do not use the cocurrent or countercurrent principle. Often, these processes are time consuming and/or use relatively high temperatures, which leads to a higher energy consumption:
EP-A 0787745 discloses an extraction of Jerusalem artichoke tubers wherein ground tubers are transferred to boiling water and extracted for 10-15 minutes.
US2004176647 discloses a process to extract phenolic compounds from a residual plant material using a hydrothermal treatment. The hydrothermal treatment is based on placing the crude residual plant material in contact with hot water in a closed reactor, comprising the following steps: a) placing the material to be treated in contact with water in a closed reactor, b) stirring; c) heating to a temperature between 180 and 240° C., and at a pressure so that the water is maintained in liquid phase; d) constantly stirring the mixture for a time period between 4 and 30 minutes; and e) cooling the reactor to approximately 40° C., unloading the mixture, filtering and recovering the liquid fraction.
JP-A 2006199651 describes the extraction of fibroplast growth factor 5 inhibitor from specific plants, wherein plant material a comminuted and extracted with 50% ethanol at 82° C. for 10 minutes.